One of the thing’s that I’d like to do with trip reports is put an end cap on the experience. Many trip reports out there feature an introduction, but few I read feature a physical conclusion. This conclusion should serve as a high level summary of the entire trip.
Installments My Paris Trip Report
- Introduction
- American Express Centurion Lounge – DFW
- American Airlines Premium Economy 789 Dallas To Paris
- I Got Pickpocked In Paris
- Le Metropolitan Hotel Paris
- Day Trip To Versailles
- American Airlines Admirals Club Paris Charles De Gaulle
- Security At Charles De Gaulle Airport
- American Airlines Business Class 788 Paris To Chicago
- Mobile Passport Experience At Chicago O’Hare Airport
- Conclusion
Overall Trip Thoughts
Paris has been on my short list of places to visit for a for a while now. Up until the time of booking I constantly checked prices from Chicago or nearby cities to the various airports of Paris. Luckily just before the end of 2016 I found some insanely cheap round trip flights. Not only were the flights cheap, but the flight to Paris was scheduled on American Airlines’ new 787-9 aircraft with the new Premium Economy cabin. I couldn’t believe my luck! I booked the trip for my girlfriend and I prior to Christmas and gave her the printed ticket taped to a bottle of wine as a Christmas gift. When I printed the ticket I made sure to hide the cost of the trip so she wouldn’t know just how inexpensive her present was.
Paris as a whole was fantastic and we had unbelievably nice weather for all 6 of our days on the ground. The day we visited Versailles was definitely the coldest of the week, but even then the weather warmed up in the afternoon making for a great day. While in Paris we saw the Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, the Arc De Triomphe, the Grand Palace… You get the idea. Each day on in France we walked nearly 12 miles! We definitely saw more than we expected to. We also were able to use the limited French we both learned through Rosetta Stone and Memrise apps. Overall the trip was truly incredible and ended up being a great way to spend my 27th birthday!
Flights
I scored an incredible deal and booked two round trip flights from Chicago to Paris (ORD-DFW-CDG-ORD) for $350 each. I made a silly mistake and forgot to book this trip as a special fare so my earnings from the trip were hilariously low. For this trip I only earned 2,492 AAdvantage award miles and just $356 EQD. Purchasing the trip as a special fare earns $990 EQD and 9,990 AAdvantage award miles.
Overall all of our flights were amazing. We luckily saw weather coming into Chicago the day of our trip and made a dash for the airport. The American Airlines check-in agent put us on an earlier flight to Dallas and after a short stop in the American Express Centurion Lounge we were on our way. The ride from Dallas to Paris was in Premium Economy on American’s 787-9 aircraft. I found Premium Economy as a nice bump up from economy, but I don’t see myself paying the premium with cash anytime soon.
Hotels
I booked our hotel, Le Metropolitan Hotel Paris, through the Citi Concierge. The hotel qualified for the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit which reduced the cost of our stay by 25%. We loved the hotel and would gladly stay there again. The hotel is in a near perfect location for tourists and the staff was incredibly helpful throughout our stay. We originally planed on switching hotels after our 4th night, but decided to extend our stay through the end of the trip. I used SPG Starpoints to cover the nightly room rate and the hotel staff let us keep our original room which meant we didn’t have to pack everything and move. I generally don’t like using points as I’m a bit of a hoarder, but the points were well worth the convenience of staying in our same room/hotel for two extra nights.
Food, Drinks, Entertainment, Etc.
Obviously we saw a lot of Paris and Versailles during our trip given we walked at least 60 miles during the week. Versailles was by far my favorite part of the trip and the worst part was the closure of the Pompidou Center due to a worker strike. Luckily for our entire trip I was again able to use credit cards for nearly every purchase. Some smaller shops required €6 minimum purchases, but that just meant we had to get an extra macaroon or two! I used my Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay for all of our food and earned 3X Ultimate Rewards points on each purchase. Additionally, I used my Citi Prestige card to pay for all entertainment expenses (museums) and earned 3X ThankYou points on all entertainment purchases.
Final Thoughts
Paris is an incredible city with a ton of history and character. When we originally planned our trip we only budgeted 4 days in Paris and planned to explore another city toward the end of our trip. Instead we ended up staying in Paris the entire week and loved every minute of it. I’m not sure if I’d go back to Paris often, but it is definitely a fantastic place to go. Also, please don’t judge Paris by its hideous Charles De Gaulle cover. That airport is one of the worst I’ve ever traveled through and I definitely don’t look to visit CDG anytime soon!
